To Protect One's Best Friend
by Jonin Neji Hyuga
Summary: Pushed to the limit, and with Neji badly wounded, Lee must resort to opening the Eight Inner Gates. (Updated 10/22/16, thanks to Lady1Venus's writing advice and also tried to fix checklist-style descriptions so they don't sound like one and tried to fix stilted dialogue. )
1. Eight Gates

**To Protect One's Best Friend**

**Chapter 1- Eight Gates**

* * *

Rock Lee, Chūnin ninja of Hidden Leaf village, jumped across branches of lush green trees at high speed**. **

Lee's fair skin was splotched with dirt and blood from his teammate. His thick black bushy eyebrows were furrowed in concentration and concern. The taijutsu user's black bowl-cut hairstyle was windswept from the speed he was traveling at. His green suit and matching flak jacket were stained with blood and dirt. Lee's orange leg warmers and red forehead protector were both missing, lost in the course of the battle.

The taijutsu user landed heavily on the grass next to a tree.

Rock Lee's white arm and hand bandages were in disarray from the extended fighting and usage in some of his taijutsu techniques.

The taijutsu specialist laid Neji Hyūga, his teammate, against the tree. "Stay here." He saw Neji's eyes were closed and heard his heavy breathing. _Not good. __Either blood loss or poison._

Neji's fair skin was dirty and stained with his blood. The Hyūga's forehead protector was gone, exposing the Hyūga cursed seal on his forehead, shaped like a manji with horizontal blue lines which curved slightly on both sides. His long, black hair was loose, the tie near the bottom having been cut earlier during the battle. Neji's white shirt and matching pants were stained with blood from multiple cuts and slashes on his torso. His dark navy gray apron tied around his waist was torn in places and ninja sandals were still intact though dirty.

A voice reached Lee's ears. "What's wrong? Why do you hide? You know, your friend has an ability much desired by Lord Orochimaru."

The taijutsu user's eyes narrowed. He stood stood up and turned around then walked forward to put himself in front of Neji. Anger boiled within but Lee hid it. "Over my dead body." _Guy Sensei, I have to do this, to protect my best friend! _He brought his arms up so they were crossed in front of him, palms facing outwards. "The Eight Inner Gates. First Gate, Gate of Opening! Open!" He felt energy surge through every inch of his body, unlocking one hundred percent of his muscle strength while several veins popped up on the center of his forehead.

"Second Gate, Gate of Healing! Open!" Lee felt more power rush throughout his body and more veins popped up on the left of his forehead.

A great wind started to blow upwards around Rock Lee. "Third Gate, Gate of Life! Open!" He felt his blood flow increase, turning his skin a darker shade of red while streams of bright blue chakra swirled around him. He felt the enemy's chakra signature drawing closer.

A mocking voice came. "What's wrong? Upset I hurt your friend? If you're so angry, why don't you come out?"

Lee felt rage boiling inside more intensely and found it harder to contain it. "Fourth Gate! Gate of Pain! Open!" The swirling chakra streams around Lee thickened and he felt more power surging through his body.

Footsteps approached, and halted. The enemy ninja could only stare at Lee, his eyes wide open, struck with the full force of killing intent. "Y...you…the… Eight Gates!" He struggled to move but his body would not budge. "W-wait! I'll leave!" It dawned upon him, the realization he was going to die, and die painfully.

The gray messy hair of the Sound ninja and his creepy dark gray eyes unnerved those who are lowly Genin with no battlefield experience. His thin eyebrows made it appear as if he had no eyebrows to the inattentive. His purple flak jacket and under suit with matching boots matched Orochimaru's favorite color, a color he loved due to it being dark yet having some light.

"Fifth Gate! Gate of Limit! Open!" Lee felt tremendous power surging through him. The chakra streams were thick and bright, and a thin green aura of chakra covered his body. He kicked off the ground, and appeared right in front of the Sound ninja, his face less than a foot away from the enemy's.

The Sound ninja's eyes widened. "**Shit!**"

"You may hurt me." Lee landed a crushing uppercut which connected with the Sound ninja's chin, shattering most of the man's teeth in the process while he flew upwards a good forty feet. "You may insult me." He jumped off the ground with great force, leaving cracks at the point of takeoff. "But for not only threatening my best friend…" Lee landed a series of blazing fast punches, shattering every rib in the enemy's body. "You tried to kill him!" He kicked the Sound Ninja away, a bandage wrapped around his waist. The taijutsu user pulled him back in, tearing the bandage. "I **will** stop you!" Lee landed a crushing blow in the center of the torso, sending the enemy downwards with a ground shattering landing while holding onto the bandage. He was pulled downwards, finally tearing the bandage off. _Now! __Lee_ extended his knee and landed knee first into the enemy's gut.

Blood flew out of the Sound ninja's mouth and splattered all over Lee's flak jacket. His eyes were wide, unblinking and unmoving. The enemy's body still and going cold.

Lee stood up and staggered. _U__sed__ too much chakra. _He staggered and walked towards where Neji was, his vision blurring. _Not going to… _He came within view of the Hyūga, fell to his knees, and fell front first onto the ground. With one ear pushed in the dirt and the other open to the air, the taijutsu user heard a voice which sounded like it was a thousand miles away.

Running footsteps approached. "There! Sakura, check on Neji! Ino, check on Lee! Hope we're not too late!"

Darkness overcame Lee. _Shizun__e..._

Everything went black.


	2. Awakening

**Chapter 2- Awakening**

* * *

Rock Lee opened his eyes wearily. _How long was I out? _ He was laying on a bed, his head on the soft pillow. The first thing he saw was the gray ceiling of the hospital room. He turned his head to the left, and saw Neji laying in another hospital bed nearby. He was currently in the black shirt and gray pants the patients in the Hidden Leaf Hospital wore.

The door opened. A medical ninja, Haruhi Hyūga, walked in. "How are you feeling?" She quickly walked to Lee's bed.

The Hyūga's eyes were tinted with lavender, the appearance of the Byakugan. Her hair was smooth and black, she usually had it down her back to her waist but when on duty it tied up into a bun at the back of her head. Her outfit consisted of a white medical shirt with tight sleeves inclusive of matching pants and shoes. The green kanji on the back and front upper right of her shirt meant 'medical ninja".

"Better than yesterday." Lee looked at the Hyūga medical ninja. "How is Neji?"

The medical ninja stopped at the side of Lee's bed. "He will be fine, considering what happened. Paralytic poison and blood loss."

Rock Lee looked at Neji then Haruhi. "Considering the nature of the poison, it sounds like they were going to..." the taijutsu user shuddered at the thought. "Take him to the Sound village."

Haruhi nodded. "Likely, makes me shudder. Evil snake as leader. Seems to have a liking towards younger people." She shuddered slightly. "Orochimaru just creeps me out, gives me the heebie jeebies. Don't like snakes too much, and he's like a snake which walks on legs."

Lee looked at Neji again. "He's likely waking up."

Haruhi turned around and quickly walked to Neji's bed. Lee was right. "Feeling okay?"

Neji opened his eyes, and saw the Hyūga healer. "Feeling weak."

Haruhi nodded. "That is normal, considering the fact you were poisoned and had blood loss. Most would be out for longer."

Neji closed his eyes to rest. "Did Lee finish them off?"

Haruhi smiled. "Yes." She looked at Lee, then back to Neji. "Though it was a bit overkill on the last one. Every bone was in at least two pieces, and the organs were basically liquefied."

Neji opened his eyes. "How many gates?"

Lee's voice was heard. "Five gates."

Neji turned to Lee. "At least we got out alive."

Haruhi nodded. "On more than a few occasions, one survives while the other does not." She gazed down on the floor. "Quite a few times the survivor suffers from survivor's guilt, it's saddening to see. Glad it didn't turn out like that this time."

Lee smiled and gave a thumbs up. "We need to get stronger, so we don't end up like this again."

Haruhi smiled. "That's good, keep at your best."

Neji hid a chuckle. "Lee and his ways."

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**This is a short story I wanted to do, and to test out some things. I have doubts about if I am doing well with the following- **

**Dialogue- got constructive criticism before that said it was stilted and did not sound like real people talking. **

**Description- feel it's a bit lacking. **

**Characters- felt when I did stories before that they were cookie cutter or something. **

**Replacing dialogue tags with action tags- this is something I am trying to do, to make things flow better.**

**If there are any problems with the above things or anything else, please do tell in the comments. Constructive Criticism is greatly appreciated. **


End file.
